I think it's a misuse of the word subjective. The writer should have used something like contingent - subject to [the vagaries of] chance.
– FumbleFingersJul 1 '18 at 16:42

1

I think it should be "The admission process is subjective and so requires some amount of luck"? But what recruitment team would openly admit "subjectiveness" is beyond me, but not certainly impossible in some contexts.
– aeskingJul 1 '18 at 16:55

subjective=depending on the decision of admissions people. There is nothing wrong with this at all. People say that decisions are subjective all the time and it just means individuals decide things.
– LambieJul 1 '18 at 19:12

4 Answers
4

In common use, "subjective" means that it is open to a person's opinion; "objective" means that it is factual. If I tell you the size of a room, that is an objective statement (because it can be measured). If I tell you what you should put in the room, that is a subjective statement (because it is my opinion).

I agree with FumbleFingers' comment that the given example is perhaps a misuse of "subjective".

Philosophy. Relating to the thinking subject (see subject n. 9), proceeding from or taking place within the individual consciousness or
perception; having its source in the mind; belonging to the conscious
life. Frequently opposed to objective adj. 3b.

Examples exist from the early 18th century, but these may be of interest:

1945 B. Russell Hist. Western Philos. iii. ii. xx. 707 Space and
time are subjective, they are part of our apparatus of perception.

1999 C. M. Cullen in B. Sweetman Failure of Modernism vi. 84 Do we
really want to say that the principle of contradiction is a subjective
a priori of knowledge rather than a principle of reality itself?

2007 Wired May 27/3 In describing optimal experience—the
subjective state of happiness he calls flow—the psychiatrist Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi says it comes down to engaging in activities just
beyond our skill level.

Moving on to sense 4, categories (a) to (e)

4a. Of, relating to, or proceeding from an individual's thoughts,
views, etc.; derived from or expressing a person's individuality or
idiosyncrasy; not impartial or literal; personal, individual.

b. Existing in the mind only, without anything real to correspond to
it; illusory, fanciful.

c. Medicine and Physiology. Perceptible only to the affected
individual (as opposed to an examiner); caused by an internal
physiological process (as opposed to an external stimulus). Cf.
objective adj. 8b.

d. Tending to lay stress on one's own feelings or opinions; given to
brooding over one's mental states; excessively introspective or
reflective.

e. Art and Literary Criticism. Expressing, bringing into prominence,
or deriving its materials mainly from, the individuality of the artist
or author.

Essentially a subjective opinion relies not on observed or assessed fact - objectivity - but on human sense or feeling, subject to all the frailties that that implies.

"Subjective" means that different subjects (i.e. different people, in this case, admissions officers) will show variability in their reactions and grading of applications. The luck factor comes in because which admissions officer is assigned to evaluate your application is probably a random occurrence.